63 réponses à ce sujet

[Gacatar]

Scimal wrote...
Are you nuts?

So you said, then you didn't prove anything I wrote as wrong.

You need heavy armor if you want to tank. That gimps your spellcasting.
Yes, the Arcane Warrior is powerful, because you can choose to play warrior, but Blood Mage is better for purely spellcasting.

Modifié par Gacatar, 09 novembre 2009 - 04:04 .

[tikiral]

I've always thought the Shapeshifter spells for Mages in RPGs sounded really, really cool, but I found that I never actually really used them unless I was using them permanently, in which case a different class was generally better for me.



That being said, if you manage to get all 4 SS abilities, I'd imagine it's a pretty powerful setup.

[Tonya777]

Can anyone and everyone change combat tactics?



I tried to fix Morrigans tactics to heal people but I can't actually find the tactics for her?

[thisisme8]

I've noticed some things over the years when it comes to any game having RPG elements: We all want to make DPS, heavily resilient, min/maxed, ultra awesome characters. The problem is, in most RPG's you have to decide between one of three major archetypes when creating a useful character. You have offense, defense, and utility. Those branch off into many subcategories, but the point is, you need to understand what certain skills, talents, or spells do before picking them because they sound cool.



The Shapeshifting tree is not made for DPS, it leans more to the Utility side, so for the same reason you wouldn't spec a warrior with Sword and Shield if you wanted him/her to be a heavy damage dealer, you don't want to spec your mage into Shapeshifting if you want him/her to be an AOE monster.



If you wanted to spec your mage as a support/utility character, then Shape Shifting is a viable option. Throw in some Crowd Control and the proper stat placement and you have a mage that can fill in the gaps left by your other characters. Is your mage an offensive powerhouse? No. Is your mage a stone wall of defense? No. Is your mage versatile to jump into unexpected situations to help your other characters with damage dealing and mitigation? Sure.

[Gfan24]

Unlike the other mage specials, shapeshifting is obviously not meant to be your main line. I mean it allows to to take over a role if someone dies or if you need a particular affect. Say you need someone immobalized, but you have no mana or maybe even a immob spell. Pop spider and there you go. Bears can fill in for a tank. I haven't done swarm yet but master shapeshifter just makes all the forms better.



Look at shapeshifting as a utility line. If you already perform that role(i.e. you don't deal much damage), then it's not the best one to take but if you're like most mages and like to deal damage, you know how quickly you can run out of mana. That's when you introduce the enemy to their worst nightmare.

[RabekIsaacJeris]

As for shapeshifting... the only real use I found for it is shapeshifting into a swarm to travel faster when I'm backtracking. It's awesome for that, and not much else.



As for bloodmagic... yes, you hurt yourself, but it comes with a spell to convert an enemy to your side (lifesaver), and a -huge- AoE that also, effectively, stuns everyone it hits. The only downside was my bloodmage/controller-type mage was pretty useless against golems/constructs.

[Donnergy]

Gacatar wrote...

Scimal wrote...
Are you nuts?

So you said, then you didn't prove anything I wrote as wrong.

You need heavy armor if you want to tank. That gimps your spellcasting.
Yes, the Arcane Warrior is powerful, because you can choose to play warrior, but Blood Mage is better for purely spellcasting.

If you are arcane warrior you need neither combat magic nor heavy armor to tank. I was just experimenting with this spec earlier today. At level 25, wearing only robe, I've managed to raise armor to 40+, defense to 80+, mental resistance a solid 100, physical resistance rarely below 80, all elemental resistence maxed at 75%. All this is achieved with shimmering shield complimented with rock armor and magic shield buff. All for a fatigue of 17%.

Now immediately, we see alot of options here. In the above mode, you are can safely tread into a mob crowd and do some close range damage with cones of ice fire and lightning or help out your melee warriors with Mind Blast (which only affect enemies). If the mage is Morrigan, you only need to invest one point on sleep and then you can safely move in for a nightmare combo with Horror (a short range spell) to deal massive damage to a single mob (especially against tough mobs with big armor/high physical resistence but low mental resistence).

With the buffs turned off, you just have another AOE powerhouse who can rain down big spells like Blizzard and Tempest at range. Out of mana? turn on Combat Magic and the other buffs then switch to a huge maul or 2 hander and whack away. With good runes and high magic, you can easily manage 70+ damage per whack.

Lastly, of course, the most obivious: with such high armor, defense and resistence, you can tank just as well as a sword/shield guy (especially when you have 2 arcane warrior lined up to cover each other's flank). With 2 Arcane Warriors, you probably dont need any warrior class in your party.

All in all, with Arcane Warrior ability, you can play the role of utility and give your Warriors the back up they need; you can play the role of any regular mage and stay behind the line to deal AOE damage; AND you can effectively tank. Thats versatility.

[Rainen89]

Shapeshifting is beyond pointless. Spider form, you get a nuke that does less damage than staff auto attack and you get one single target CC. Bear form you hit like dog only do 1/2 the damage and swing 1/2 as fast. Not to mention the 4-5 second cast time it's about as useful as Sten in glee club.

Swarm probably has potential I've yet to try it out but the "huge" vulnerability to fire leaves me thinking it's unwise as most darkspawn or mages in general spam fireball, a lot. Also, on blood magic the whole "hurting yourself" side effect is minor at best blood wound is instant so you have very little time of vulnerability and provided your fatigue is not extreme the health cost is quite minor. Blood control is win as well.

Modifié par Rainen89, 19 novembre 2009 - 10:10 .

[JessicaGlenn]

I'm did an Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage on my second playthrough. I wear the Diligence armor set and maxed out both specializations. I would say that this is a pretty good combo. The AW increases fatigue but BM allows you to use health to power spells. Also the BM spells are absolutely killer, AOE stun spell that chokes everyone is awesome. The Mind control one is also good to take out elites from the battle. When you lose half your hp, switch back to normal mode and heal yourself.

[vhatever]

You can shapeshift before a fighht, use you abilities, then shift back. And the swarm ability has a lot of interesting uses, including traveling mach 10 + haste.

[vhatever]

JessicaGlenn wrote...

I'm did an Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage on my second playthrough. I wear the Diligence armor set and maxed out both specializations. I would say that this is a pretty good combo. The AW increases fatigue but BM allows you to use health to power spells. Also the BM spells are absolutely killer, AOE stun spell that chokes everyone is awesome. The Mind control one is also good to take out elites from the battle. When you lose half your hp, switch back to normal mode and heal yourself.

Arcane warrior is bordering on brokenly overpowered, and easily so when you tack on BM. Probably not a good comparison for shapeshifting.

[orpheus333]

I was hoping shifting would give morrigan a significant boost to health. But it doesn't shes just as squishy in bear or spider form as she is running around casting.

[Malcroix]

Donnergy wrote...

Gacatar wrote...

Scimal wrote...
Are you nuts?

So you said, then you didn't prove anything I wrote as wrong.

You need heavy armor if you want to tank. That gimps your spellcasting.
Yes, the Arcane Warrior is powerful, because you can choose to play warrior, but Blood Mage is better for purely spellcasting.

If you are arcane warrior you need neither combat magic nor heavy armor to tank. I was just experimenting with this spec earlier today. At level 25, wearing only robe, I've managed to raise armor to 40+, defense to 80+, mental resistance a solid 100, physical resistance rarely below 80, all elemental resistence maxed at 75%. All this is achieved with shimmering shield complimented with rock armor and magic shield buff. All for a fatigue of 17%.

If you wear Wade's Superior Dragonskin, that fatigue will drop to 5% AND you'll get +18 armor, +25 mana, +2 mana regeneration in combat AND a cool armor to wear instead of a ridiculous robe.

Arcane Warrior rules. Both mages in my party are AW/Blood Mage, and I'm having a blast.

[Malcroix]

JessicaGlenn wrote...

the BM spells are absolutely killer, AOE stun spell that chokes everyone is awesome. The Mind control one is also good to take out elites from the battle. When you lose half your hp, switch back to normal mode and heal yourself.

OR install the Blood Sacrifice fix (in my projects) and use enemies charmed through Blood Control or Waking Nightmare as instant healthpacks - the way Blood Sacrifice is SUPPOSED to work.

[buba10]

Yea i use the medium wade's superior dragonskin. and dont have any mana problems with it.

Not compared with a normal mage. Heck i even last longer then a normal mage.

[JessicaGlenn]

vhatever wrote...

JessicaGlenn wrote...

I'm did an Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage on my second playthrough. I wear the Diligence armor set and maxed out both specializations. I would say that this is a pretty good combo. The AW increases fatigue but BM allows you to use health to power spells. Also the BM spells are absolutely killer, AOE stun spell that chokes everyone is awesome. The Mind control one is also good to take out elites from the battle. When you lose half your hp, switch back to normal mode and heal yourself.

Arcane warrior is bordering on brokenly overpowered, and easily so when you tack on BM. Probably not a good comparison for shapeshifting.

Pretty much. My second playthrough was a breeze without really any major fights. On my 3rd now, and trying out a dualwielding city elf rogue ranger/duelist.

[Wishpig]

Once or twice shape-shifting has saved me ****, when everyone is dead save morrigan and all my party is dead, spider or bear form can save the day.



But, like I said, once or twice after 20 some hours of play = not that helpfull. Why would they give such a worthless specilization to their title character, I dunno... stupid move.

[Are el]

Shapeshifting is good when you''re out of mana and don't really want to chug another potion. It's not exactly powerful, but it can be a fun change of pace. Don't think of Shapeshifting as your character's focus, but rather as an extra bit of utility.

[Ivyfrost]

Seems we get away from the topic.

Shapeshifting is usefull. Change to inseckt swarm and attac a warior is fun. His sword is useless and his armour. noooo those inseckts get in everywere

Wach Your panty warior,  
they are infected
lol

Ivy

Modifié par Ivyfrost, 19 novembre 2009 - 12:45 .

[SomeoneStoleMyName]

allothernamesweretaken wrote...

It's pretty nifty for when you're out of mana.

That's all I got.

No, your staff attack still do more damage.

[Statisfaction]

Gotta think outside the box (but only ever so slightly )



Instead of thinking of a Shapeshifter as a Mage who can turn into an animal and lose all her spells (which is the most common complaint as to why SS is pointless), think of it as a Spider that can start the battle with a mana-free paralyze, overwhelm and poison, then instantly (no cast time) turn back into a mage and go crazy until mana is out, then turn into a swarm to refill mana, plus with the flexibility to turn your mage into a backup tank. Not to mention that swarm moves incredibly quickly.



Unfortunately, Shapeshifting is (somewhat) useful only if you're really committed to making it so...

[rabbitchannel]

The sacred ashes trailer deceived us all.

[Rwraith]

Agreed about making shapeshifting faster. In the video Morrigan (sp?) leaps thru the air and is instantly a spider. WE have to stand around waving our stupid arms in the air. Bioware please fix this in a patch. I know there is a mod out but I am always wary of anything not 'official'.

[Nouv Paris]

Who the hell runs out of mana in this game, when potions are so easy to chug? There's no reason why you should be running out of mana at all.

[Eternal Dust]

Shapeshifting's useless when you can just take the Ranger specialization and get an animal ADDED to your party instead of wasting your mage.